Contextual lead generation in an automated communication link establishment and management system

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems may generate contextual leads in an automated communication link establishment and management system. In addition, systems and methods may automatically integrate an automated calling system with a customer relationship management system, contact management system, and/or task management system, so that historical information stored concerning past contact activity and automated calling sessions relating to contacts is automatically updated in the customer relationship management system, contact management system, and/or task management system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to, and is a continuation of U.S. Ser.No. 14/161,339, filed Jan. 22, 2014, entitled “CONTEXTUAL LEADGENERATION IN AN AUTOMATED COMMUNICATION LINK ESTABLISHMENT ANDMANAGEMENT SYSTEM”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No.13/894,126, filed May 15, 2013 entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICUPDATE OF CALLS WITH PORTABLE DEVICE”, which is a continuation-in-partof U.S. Ser. No. 13/412,715, filed Mar. 6, 2012, entitled “CLOSED LOOPCALLING PROCESS IN AN AUTOMATED COMMUNICATION LINK ESTABLISHMENTMANAGEMENT SYSTEM”, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a method and system for optimizingmarket coverage in a system for facilitating call connections between auser and a target. For the sake of clarity and ease of understanding,references will be made to examples of applications for making salescalls. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand thatthe concepts described herein are applicable to any number of differentfields, including, but not limited to, any contact relationshipmanagement system, telephone surveys, telephone number verification,census information gathering activities, fund raising campaigns,political campaigns, or any combination thereof.

An automated system for telephonically conducting simultaneous callingsessions on behalf of many users will involve calling attempts onseparate successive sessions, which may be separated by a number ofdays, weeks, or in some cases, even months. An example of an automatedsystem for facilitating telephone call connections between a user and aprospect is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2007/0121902 A1, published May 31, 2007, entitled TRANSFER OF LIVECALLS, based upon application Ser. No. 11/556,301, filed Nov. 3, 2006,the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Many companies, non-profit organizations and government entitiesregularly call people at their place of work. These calls are oftenintended to identify opportunities to sell one or more products, but arealso made to solicit donations, conduct market research or collect owedmoney. Many of these calls are made to someone known to the callingorganization, and for whom contact information such as name, companyname, title and one or more telephone numbers are available. However, itis often desirable to have telephone conversations with people who arenot individually known to the calling organization, but who have a titleor job role at a company that may have a need for one or more productsbeing sold by the calling organization.

These kinds of calls, usually called “cold calls”, are typically made byacquiring a list of contacts from a list vendor or aggregator of contactdata such as Data.com, Hoovers or Zoom Info. Such lead lists typicallyhave high rates of outdated and incorrect information. Industry datashows that more than 20 call attempts are required on average to get alive telephone conversation with a targeted person. Thus, inaccurate oroutdated contact information in a calling list wastes time that couldhave been better spent in trying to reach valid contacts, or in actualsales conversations. These dead end call attempts also frustrate andhurt the morale and impair the earnings of the callers, who are usuallysales representatives that are compensated based on successfulconversation outcomes.

In addition, while an acquired lead list can usually be filtered byattributes such as job title, industry, and company size in order tomore accurately target calling campaigns, these lists do not provide anyinformation that helps identify targets who might be more ready to buy aspecific product because of an event or change in circumstance. Forexample, a company that has recently opened a new office would be morelikely to be in the market for a coffee delivery service; or a companythat just bought a Salesforce Customer Relationship Management, or CRM,system might be interested in buying CRM consulting services. Thesekinds of events and changes of circumstance can be thought of ascontextual clues that provide evidence that a specific company orindividual person is likely to be more receptive to a specific salesoffer. These contextual clues are often very time sensitive, and canquickly become obsolete when the need of the moment is fulfilled and thepotential buyer moves on to solve other problems.

Calling organizations often recognize the value of using time sensitivecontextual clues for identifying higher quality leads on which to spendtheir valuable calling resources, and they often provide their salesrepresentatives with Internet-based research tools such as InsideView orRainKing, supplemented by generic search tools such as Google or Bingand by services such as LinkedIn that provide information aboutindividual people. This research is typically done for a combination ofa company and contact on an acquired calling list immediately before acall attempt. These tools, in aggregate, are commonly referred to as‘lead generation’ or ‘leadgen’. Unfortunately, because more than 95percent of call attempts do not result in a conversation, most of thisleadgen process is wasted or its effectiveness is reduced because of thedelay between the research and the actual conversation, if any.

Complicating the challenge of identifying contextual clues andresponding to them in a timely manner is the administrative burdenthrust upon the calling organization to manage this extremely dynamicinformation in a manner that supports the organization's territorypolicy and design. Most companies organize their sales reps intodistinct ‘geographies’ with no overlap between reps. Factors such asindustry, company size, functional roles within an organization, productline and location are common factors used to design these repterritories. Organizations with many sales reps and some degree ofturnover across those reps can struggle with the constant need to aligncustomers and opportunities to the shape-shifting of their salesorganization. When territory requirements are extended in front ofcustomers, to the much larger population of potential customers, oftencalled ‘prospects’, the complexities and administrative cost can becomeoverwhelming.

Organization's that go to the extraordinary efforts to extend territorypolicy management into their leadgen efforts can often suffer from theunintended consequence of now being fully reliant on the whims of theirreps to cover leads in the necessary time sensitive manner. Given thatsales reps go through a natural cycle, that can often take weeks, monthsor quarters, of finding new opportunities via prospecting, spending timeensuring a proper product fit via qualifying, engaging in a salesprocess and negotiating a purchase, it is common that leads aredelivered to a sales rep when their effort is in a different portion oftheir sales lifecycle. As a result, huge portions of time sensitiveleads can lay fallow, never having been spoken with by a sales repbefore their value expires. This frequent scenario can be incrediblyfrustrating and costly to the calling organization given the time andexpense it has gone through to provide the leadgen function to sales.

Customer relationship management (“CRM”) systems are typically used asmaster repositories for customer and prospect information. When using anautomated calling process, the user has conversations with prospectsthat need to be correctly recorded in a CRM system, such as logging thecall, setting a status field on the lead or contact record to indicatethat at least one conversation has taken place, and creating a taskrecord for follow up action. These updates need to be performed in a waythat allows the user to mix automated calling sessions with unscheduledmanual dialing and scheduled meetings in a coordinated way that avoidsconflicts, such as calling a prospect back too early, or before anagreed-upon next step has been taken.

Accordingly, what is needed is an improved system and methods for betteridentifying and timing a caller's outreach to a target that optimizesmarket coverage. Such a system will better identify potential customerswith a propensity to purchase the goods/services of the caller.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features, obstacles, and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the detailed description set forth below whentaken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a system according to one embodimentdescribed herein.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating further details of thecommunication link establishment and management system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of a method of executing a callingsession.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart providing more details for the method ofhandling a new contact referred by a target shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart providing more details for the method ofscheduling a meeting with a target shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart providing more details for the method ofsetting up a follow up conversation shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart of a method of applying failed callattempts to contact records shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow chart of a method of managing a meeting ormanual call.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow chart of a method of dynamically allocatingagents.

FIG. 10 illustrates a state table that is associated with the methoddepicted in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 illustrates a screenshot of a display provided as an agentinterface for use in connection with an automated calling system.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram depicting one embodiment of a programmableCRM integration system for use in a system according to one embodimentdescribed herein.

FIG. 13 illustrates a flow chart of a method of contextual leadgeneration.

FIG. 14 illustrates a flow chart of a process flow of lead pooling.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ONE OR MORE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Apparatus, systems and methods that implement the embodiments of thevarious features of the present invention will now be described withreference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptionsare provided to illustrate some embodiments of the present invention andnot to limit the scope of the present invention. Throughout thedrawings, reference numbers are re-used to indicate correspondencebetween referenced elements.

Referring to FIG. 1, a communication link establishment and managementsystem 100 is provided. A plurality of users 101, 101 a, 101 b, 101 cand 101 d are shown in FIG. 1. In the illustrated example, the users 101may be sales personnel who need to contract potential customers viatelephone to sell a product or service. The communication linkestablishment and management system 100 is operative to establishcommunication with targets 103, 103 a, 103 b, 103 c, 103 d, 103 e.

Although the communication link establishment and management system 100provides the capability of simultaneously executing the same callinglist for multiple users 101, 101 a, 101 b, 101 c and 101 d (undercircumstances where any one of the users 101, 101 a, 101 b, 101 c and101 d are equally capable of having a conversation with any target 103,103 a, 103 b, 103 c, 103 d, 103 e on the calling list) in most typicalapplications a given calling list will be executed on behalf of only oneuser 101 a at a time.

In typical applications, a user 101 a may provide a calling list to thecommunication link establishment and management system 100, or have acalling list automatically generated, for example, based upon queries toa database 111 or based upon queries to a separate customer relationshipmanagement system, contact management system, or task management system.Then that user 101 a can sit back and wait for a few moments as thecommunication link establishment and management system 100 startsdialing, and in a few moments, start talking directly to desired targetpersons 103 as soon as the first successful communication link isestablished.

In the illustrated example, communication with the targets 103 isestablished telephonically using the public switched telephone network104. The public switched telephone network (PSTN) refers to theworldwide network of public circuit-switched telephone networks,including telephone subscriber lines, telephone trunk lines, cellularnetworks, transoceanic telephone cables, fiber optic cables, microwavelinks, and satellite links, which are all inter-connected by switchingcenters. The PSTN allows any telephone in the world to be connected withany other for voice communication. The PSTN initially was a network ofanalog telephone systems connected to twisted pair cables. Over theyears, the PSTN was upgraded to almost entirely digital switchingnetworks, and now includes mobile telephones as well as fixedtelephones.

As shown in FIG. 1, agents 102, 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d, 102 efunction to facilitate the establishment of a communication link betweena user 101 and a target 103. In the illustrated example, an agentperforms important functions in completing calls between a sales person101 and a potential customer 103. Typically, users 101 participate inthe calling activity of the system 100 during a period of time referredto as a calling session. The user 101 may have a sales pitch to deliver,and would like to deliver the pitch to sequential targets or potentialcustomers 103 without substantial interruption or downtime betweensuccessful connections to a potential customer 103. The user or pitcher101 is associated with a calling list that includes telephone numbersand target identifying information. The calling list may be extractedfrom a conventional contact management system, or a customerrelationship management system. An example of a commercially availablecustomer relationship management system is salesforce.com.

The present invention provides significant advantages that may not bereadily apparent to persons skilled in the art who have not witnessedthe operation of the communication link establishment and managementsystem 100 in practice. In one survey of over a hundred North Americantechnology companies in the year 2010, the average inside sales personwas only able to make 47 telephone call attempts a day. In attempting tocomplete calls to targets 103 to successfully engage in conversationswith them, a business person must typically dial from a list oftelephone numbers, navigate IVR systems and automated attendant systems,go through operators, talk to gatekeepers, go through companydirectories, listen to voicemail greetings, redial alternate numbers fora target 103 when the original number is busy, turns out to be afacsimile number, or there is no answer, and so forth. In order toachieve a rate as high as 47 call attempts a day, the average personmust concentrate solely upon the calling activity to the exclusion ofeverything else.

In practice, the success rate is about twenty-two call attempts forevery conversation successfully conducted with a desired target person103. At a success rate of 22 to 1, a sales person who makes 47 calls aday will only average two to three conversations a day with desiredtargets 103. When the targets 103 are higher-level executives, thesuccess rate drops even lower. For mid-level executives, experience hasshown that the success rate is typically only about one out of everythirty-five call attempts. When the targets 103 are upper levelmanagement, the success rate drops even lower.

While the present description of an embodiment of the invention uses theexample of a business that sells to potential customers over thetelephone, the usefulness of the present invention is not limited to atelephone sales environment. In most businesses, having conversationswith potential customers, potential investors, potential partners,existing customers, etc., is vital to the success of the business. Yet,as the value of the target person 103 goes up, the difficultly inestablishing communication with the target 103 typically goes up aswell, and consequently, the success rate of calling attempts goes down.

The value of the target 103 is not the only relevant factor. The valueof the user 101 to the business is also an important consideration. Asthe value and importance of the user 101, who is attempting to establishcommunication with a target 103, goes up, such higher value users 101typically have greater responsibilities in connection with theirrespective business, and usually have important meetings and otherbusiness activities that place demands upon the user's time. Therefore,an inverse relationship typically exists between the value andimportance of the user 101 attempting to establish communication with atarget 103, and the time that the user 101 has available to engage indialing and attempting to call the target 103. Nevertheless, havingcommunications with targets 103 is a business critical activity thatmust be done for the success of a user's business.

Experience has also shown that calls are more efficiently done if thecalls are made in a block in which conversations concerning a similartheme or subject matter are concentrated together. This may be definedas monothematic calling sessions. For example, it is more efficient fora user 101 to arrange in a block, or a single calling session, all callsthat the user 101 needs to make to venture capitalists with whom theuser 101 wants to talk to about investing in the user's business. Or theuser 101 may wish to devote a calling session to conversations withexisting customers, either to gauge customer satisfaction, explore anexpansion of the existing business, discuss a new product offering orproduct upgrade, etc. Or the user 101 may engage in a calling sessionfor the purpose of engaging in conversations with a list of targets 103that the user 101 wants to talk to about an expansion of the user'sbusiness into Europe or some other new territory.

Experience has shown that a user 101 generally has better results whenengaging in conversations concerning the same subject matter or theme,if the conversations are grouped together and conducted in aconcentrated activity. If a user 101 is able to engage in severalconversations in a relatively rapid sequence, it is easier to takeadvantage of anything that is learned during a previous conversation andapply it to subsequent conversations. For example, it is easier for theuser 101 to try different approaches and to accurately gauge whichapproach appears to achieve better results. When conversations occur ina concentrated fashion, it is easier for a user 101 to try differentmessages, to try different calling lists, or to try different times ofday for attempting calls. For example, if a user 101 is attempting tomanually place calls at the slow success rate typical of conventionaldialing approaches, it is difficult for the user 101 to reliablydetermine such information as, for example, when is the best time of dayto call potential customers on the East Coast, or what day of the weekdo targets 103 on a particular list having certain characteristics tendto answer the telephone more frequently, etc.

A communication link establishment and management system 100 inaccordance with the present invention typically provides a user 101 withan average of ten conversations an hour with desired target persons 103.A system 100 in accordance with the present invention effectivelydivides the activity of attempting calls into three parts. The part thatcan be done automatically by a machine is performed by the system 100.The part that can be performed by a person with general skills relatingto call placement, and which does not require expertise in the user'sbusiness and specialized knowledge relevant to the subject matter of thedesired conversation, can be performed by agents 102. The part thatrequires the skill and expertise of a high value user 101, i.e., theactual conversation with a target person 103, is isolated so that, asfar as the system 100 is concerned, the user 101 only spends timeengaging in the actual desired conversations with the targets 103. Whilethe system 100 and the agents 102 are working to successfully establishcommunication with a desired target person 103, the user 101 is free toengage in other work activities, such a reading emails, draftingcorrespondence, completing reports, etc. The user 101, who may be a highskilled person whose involvement in meetings and business decisions iscrucial to the success of the users' business, is allowed to maximizethe time available for such business critical activities, while at thesame time efficiently using the user's time that is required to engagein important conversations with targets 103 which are vital to thesuccess and growth of the user's business.

A communication link establishment and management system 100 inaccordance with the present invention further provides the significantfunctional advantage of providing the ultimate diagnostic tool for abusiness. The ability to engage in concatenated conversations withexisting customers, potential customers, existing investors, potentialinvestors, existing partners, potential partners, etc., and then observethe results of those conversations and utilize the data and informationgathered during such conversations, is an enormous advantage to anybusiness. Such critical information is invaluable in analyzing andimproving a business, and is important in the improvement of marketingcampaigns, the improvement of sales approaches, the improvement ofcustomer satisfaction and customer relations, the improvement ofbusiness strategies and business models, and the improvement of manyother procedures, goals and activities. These and other advantages maynot be relatively apparent unless and until a person skilled in the artactually observes and experiences the effectiveness and the operation ofthe present invention in practice.

Turning to FIG. 13, a flow chart for a contextual lead generationprocess in accordance with the present invention is shown. Oneembodiment of steps associated with a method of creating a database ofleads is shown. This method aims to optimize market coverage through aprocess of identifying and timing a caller's outreach to a potentialcustomer by having identified market signals that would indicate apropensity to purchase a caller's product or service. Unlike manyleadgen activities that focus solely on who to contact, contextualprospecting aims to time a caller's outreach so that an organization'sprospecting adds the elements of ‘what to say’ and ‘why now.’ Whendesigned properly, the Funnel Builder component of the present inventionallows an organization to find these market signals in a fashion tosupport large scale creation of leads that are perpetual.

An important aspect to identifying large numbers of leads is themechanism to ensure timely coverage of those leads. Lead Poolingeliminates the common territory constraints that allow individual salesrepresentatives to decide on market outreach and replaces thisrepresentative-dependent design with one that maximizes the coverage ofleads being contacted during the likely buying window indicated by themarket signal that caused the account to be identified initially. LeadPooling, when combined with Funnel Builder, creates a high-velocity leadgeneration program that should allow an organization to identifyprospects before others, ensure they are contacted quickly and providethe framework for a meaningful conversation all at a pace not possiblewithout the core elements of the present invention.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, Funnel Builder isthe lead generation component that allows an organization to create aperennial flow of unique leads. Funnel Builder utilizes information thatis available through a variety of sources, such as the Internet, toidentify market opportunities quickly and broadly.

In step 1301, the illustrated method defines target market signals. Thisstep includes identifying common events that often precede a buyingopportunity for one's product or service by a particular company.Examples of these market signals could be a staff change, a hiringinitiative, an organizational announcement or the purchase of anotherproduct or service by a company.

In step 1302, the illustrated method translates the defined marketsignals into queries that can be used to search information for leads.In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, thesequeries can used repeatedly to search various databases, such as theInternet. In one embodiment, the queries are designed to findpublications of the defined market signals on webpages. In anotherembodiment, the queries can utilize consolidators or services that haveaccumulated information about various markets. The queries can bedesigned to target specific websites or to search the Internet in itsentirety.

In step 1303, the illustrated method will structure the resulting outputfrom the queries. In one embodiment, the queries will generate a list ofuniform resource locators (URLs, also known as webpages) that containinformation on the market signals. Step 303 will organize theinformation contained in these URLs. In one embodiment, if the query istargeting a specific website, there is some likelihood that theinformation on that site will be in a consistent format. If that is thecase, the query itself can extract the data on the webpage rather thanjust the URL. In other embodiments, the resulting webpages captured bythe query will reside in many formats. This will require normalizationof the data contained on those webpages. In one embodiment, the outputof the query process is an Excel-like spreadsheet that summarizes allthe URLs that contain market signal information for a particular query.It will be appreciated that the output may be in other formats thatallow for storage of the information that summarizes the URLS that werereturned as containing the defined market signals for a particularquery.

In step 1304, the illustrated method appends data that will allow theresults to be actionable. For example, the query process may yieldinformation that is generally at the company-level. That is, an eventhas occurred at an organization of interest. This yielded information(“the data”) is not yet actionable by a caller (sales representative) asthe data lacks the essential information as to who to contact. Step 1304adds people-specific information to the query data. In one embodiment,step 1304 can be automated by partnering with a data provider anddefining contact parameters for each query. An example of this is thatthe query needs to be appended with a CIO or CTO level contact. Oncestep 1304 is complete for a particular query, a complete lead will begenerated, containing a company-level signal, with contact informationfor the appropriate person to contact, along with “what” to talk withthat person about.

Lead Pooling

The traditional ‘rep assignment’ process often results in lead follow upbecoming inconsistent and/or territory coverage overly rep-dependent.When the varying lead coverage is combined with the administrativeburden of territory assignments before any qualification, theorganizational return on the most common lead assignment methodologiesseems marginal.

Lead Pooling allows an organization to offset the downsides oftraditional territory assignments. To ensure maximum market coverage,Lead Pooling allows an organization to create company-wide database(s)of leads, each with common themes. In accordance with one aspect of thepresent invention, a lead pool can be referred to as a ‘campaign’,wherein a rep accesses the individual leads in that campaign.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, instead ofassigning leads within a campaign to a specific rep, a representativecan access these leads via their use of the methods of the presentinvention. In this manner, a ‘conversation’ by a rep with a prospectiveaccount affords that rep the ability to qualify and possibly protectthat lead for a subsequent sales process. By converting a lead to acontact and opportunity, an account becomes part of a rep'sterritory—until sold or aging-out of the rep pipeline due to time-basedstage policy. In this way, territories become elastic and self-managing,with reps wanting ‘more territory’ generating as much via prospecting inthe Lead Pool more frequently.

It will be appreciated that the Lead Pooling design ensures thattime-sensitive leads generated via the Funnel Builder process do not laydormant, possibly never being contacted during the likely buying window,and whose follow up is determined by individual rep sales cycles.Rather, these leads will be instantly available to the subset of reps ata company who happen to be in the leadgen-prospecting portion of theirsales cycles.

In step 1305, the illustrated method imports the leads to a CRM orsimilar database as a campaign. In this embodiment, a CRM may refer toany system of record that a business uses to track its customers andprospects. In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,each query will result in a steady flow of leads that will likely have asimilar theme. Thus, all completely appended leads from any single querycan be imported into the same campaign within CMR, including thecontextual data for each specific lead captured in the query process.Furthermore, one may have multiple queries all focused on finding acommon market signal from different sources, and in this case, all queryresults can be consolidated into a single campaign with the CMR. Bykeeping campaigns mono-thematic, one can ensure that conversations withprospects are both efficient and effective

In step 1306, contextual campaigns are accessible for calling sessionsas described below by users assigned to these campaigns.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating further details of thecommunication link establishment and management system 100 shown inFIG. 1. The communication link establishment and management system 100may be implemented with a server. In the illustrated example, thecommunication link establishment and management system 100 comprises auser application 105, a session module 106, and a target module 107, allof which may be running on a server. The communication linkestablishment and management system 100 further comprises an agentapplication 108, an agent module 109, and an agent administrativeapplication 110. A call management module 112, a connection managementmodule 113, and a communication interface 114 are also provided. In oneembodiment, the communication interface 114 may be a telephoneinterface, for example, where the communication link establishment andmanagement system 100 is connected to the PSTN. In another embodiment,the communication interface 114 may be a network interface, for example,where the communication link establishment and management system 100 isconnected to the Internet. A database 111 is stored on a data store,such as a hard disk drive, a RAM drive, or any other suitable storagedevice.

The user application 105 keeps track of the state of calls and otheractions associated with the user 101, and generates any display or otheroutput or interface provided to a user 101 during a calling session. Inone embodiment, the user application 105 may reside on the server forthe communication link establishment and management system 100, as shownin FIG. 2. A user 101 may interact with the communication linkestablishment and management system 100 using a web browser running on apersonal computer. Alternatively, a portion of the user application 105may be installed or downloaded onto a user device, such as the user'spersonal computer, or the user's smartphone or tablet, although in thatcase some small portion of the user application 105 may still reside onthe communication link establishment and management system 100.

The session module 106 keeps track of the state of a currently runningcalling session. The session module will keep track of the state of acalling session, including whether the user 101 is busy at any givenmoment in time, whether the system 100 is dialing, whether the system100 is pausing, whether the user 101 is talking, etc. The target module107 keeps track of the state of events and conditions relating totargets 103, such as which targets 103 are being called, when the lastcall attempt was made to a target 103, historical calling attemptsassociated with a target 103, information relating to the quality ofcontact information associated with a target 103, such as bad numbers,updated information, etc. In one embodiment, call disposition data andinformation associated with targets 103 and a current calling list, aremaintained in memory and at the end of a calling session, are stored ina database 111, which information may later be transferred to anexternal contact database or customer relationship management database.

The agent application 108 provides an interface with agents 102, andgenerates displays for agents 102 such as the screenshot shown in FIG.11. The agent module 109 handles actions among the group of availableagents 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d and 102 e. The agent module 109maintains agent characteristic information, such as agent skills(languages spoken, etc.), agent experience, agent cost, and othercharacteristic information. The agent module 109 shown in FIG. 2performs the function of determining which agent 102 a, 102 b, 102 c,102 d, or 102 e should be selected to handle a calling attempt (basedupon agent characteristic information and agent selection criteria) whena call attempt needs to be transferred to an agent 102 in step 207 shownin FIG. 9.

Referring to FIG. 2, the agent administration module 110 is used tocreate and update agent associated records and to identify each agent102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d, and 102 e. For example, the agentadministration module 110 maintains a table or index for data concerningeach agent's cost (labor cost or pay rate), the identity of the vendorthat supplied the agent 102, the employer of the agent 102 if the agentlabor is outsourced, an agent ID or identifying indicia unique to eachagent 102, the experience level of an agent, the number of calls handledby an agent, the average time interval between calls for each agent, andother performance metrics and agent characteristic information. Theagent administration module 110 records data to track and score eachagent's performance and other metrics that are useful in evaluating anagent 102.

The call management module 112 keeps track of call states, for examplewhether a telephone number is ringing, whether a user 101 is busy or isavailable for a call transfer, what calls are being attempted for aparticular user 101, etc. The connection management module 113 controlsand keeps track of each connection. For example, the connection module113 keeps track of whether a user 101 actively involved in a callingsession called into the system 100, or whether the system 100 called theuser 101, and if so, at what number. The connection management module113 is operative to cause a user 101 to be connected to a target 103 atappropriate times, for example, when an agent 102 clicks on the transferbutton 406 shown in FIG. 11, which is described more fully below. Theconnection management module 113 is operative to cause an agent 102 tobe connected to a calling attempt so that the agent 102 can hear thecall in progress, and can communicate with a gatekeeper or navigate anautomated attendant system.

In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the various modules mayintercommunicate with each other via the database 111. In an alternativeembodiment, a data bus or communication bus may be provided, and each ofthe modules 106, 107, 109, 112, and 113 may be connected to the bus inorder to communicate with each other. In such an alternative embodiment,the database 111 would also be connected to the bus. In addition, theagent administration application would also communicate via the bus withthe database 111 and the agent module 110.

The structure of the components of the communication link establishmentand management system 100 having been described, attention will now beturned to the functionality of the various components. It is understoodthat the illustrated system 100 is merely one embodiment of how thefeatures of the present invention may be implemented. However, a numberof alternative configurations are possible. For example, the features ofa server and the database 111 may be performed, in whole or in part, ata user device; (e.g., a personal computing device may be configured toachieve some or all of the functionality of a server and the databasestorage 111 described herein). Alternatively, the database storage 111may be integrated on a separate server at a single location whilecommunicating with the user 101 over a network 104, (e.g., theInternet). Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that aplurality of different implementations of the present invention arepossible and are all within the spirit and scope of this disclosure.However, for the sake of clarity, the following description will referto the illustrated system shown in FIG. 1.

One embodiment of the present invention provides a closed loop callingprocess that creates and manages metadata about prospects. The storedmetadata may be used advantageously to create calling lists of targetshaving certain characteristics.

The stored metadata includes status information concerning the target103. Status information includes whether the user 101 has talked to theassociated target 103. Status information includes whether this targetis someone that the user wants to talk to, whether this target issomeone the user does not want to talk to, etc.

The stored metadata includes information concerning an attention classassociated with the target 103. One possible attention class is that thenext unscheduled conversation is “urgent,” meaning that contact shouldbe made as soon as possible with the target 103. Another possibleattention class is that the next unscheduled conversation with thetarget 103 is “priority,” meaning that it should be preferentiallyattempted ahead of non-priority contact attempts in future callingsessions. A third possible attention class for a target 103 is “normal.”

The stored metadata includes information concerning the next steps totake with respect to the target 103. The purpose of the “next steps”data is to record in the database 111 information that may be readilyprovided to a user 101 and displayed on the user's screen provided by auser device when the user 101 has a later conversation with theassociated target 103. This may include notes that describe theanticipated next actions to be taken in the ongoing interaction with thetarget 103. The next steps information can include, for example,schedule a meeting, check on the status of an order, generate a quote orproposal, etc. The next steps may create a dependency wherein some actmust occur or some condition must be met before the target may beincluded in a calling list.

The stored metadata includes information relating to the earliest dateon which any further calling attempts can be made with respect to thetarget 103. The effect of this data is to exclude the target 103 fromany calling lists generated for calling sessions prior to this date,which is sometimes referred to as a “wait until” date, or alternativelyas a “hold until” date. After the follow up date stored in thismetadata, the target 103 associated with this record is eligible to beincluded in calling lists. Note that the next steps metadata may have animpact on the date stored here. Because the next steps metadata maycreate a dependency wherein the target should not be included in acalling list until some act is performed, such as putting together anestimate or proposal requested by the target, the context of the nextsteps data may determine the date of any “wait until” date stored forthe target 103.

The stored metadata includes a “hold flag” which is used to insure thatthe associated target is excluded from any automatically generatedcalling lists while the flag is set. There are many circumstances underwhich a user 101 would not wish to have an automated calling system 100include a particular target 103 on a calling list of people who arebeing automatically called by the system 100. The “hold flag” is usedfor the purpose of excluding the associated target 103 from callinglists.

The metadata can also include a flag indicating whether the next attemptto contact the target 103 will be in an automated calling session orsome other way, including a scheduled call or meeting.

The metadata associated with a target 103 preferably is contextuallyassociated with a particular user 101 a. The metadata status field fortarget 103 a that is associated with user 101 a may be set to indicatethat the target 103 a has been talked to by user 101 a, but the metadatastatus field for target 103 a that is associated with user 101 b may beset to indicate that the target 103 a has not been talked to by user 101b. Similarly, the metadata field for next steps associated with target103 a may be set to one value for user 101 a, and set to a differentvalue for user 101 b, in circumstances where some action needs to betaken specifically by user 101 a but is not applicable to user 101 b.

However, in most businesses, a target 103 a will be allocated to aspecific user 101 a based on territory or some other exclusivityparameter, and it will be unusual for two different users 101 a and 101b to be calling the same target 103 a. Nevertheless, the automatedcalling system 100 according to the present invention allows for thecoordination of calling lists generated for overlapping targets 103 whomay potentially appear on calling lists for more than one user 101 in abusiness.

In one embodiment, the metadata described herein may be maintained in astandalone data management application such as Microsoft Excel, with theuser opening a contact spreadsheet after each conversation, finding therow that matches the conversation, and setting values in columnscorresponding to the metadata described above. In a preferredembodiment, however, the metadata is maintained in the automated callingsystem's database 111, and managed through a user interface provided bythe automated calling system 100 after each conversation. In analternative embodiment, the metadata could be maintained in a customerrelationship management (“CRM”) system or the like, and managed throughthe CRM system's user interface. Alternatively, the metadata ismaintained in a CRM system, and the automated calling system 100provides a user interface in conjunction with an integration capabilitythat updates records in the CRM system.

The metadata described herein is useful in generating calling lists andreports. In particular, the metadata may be used to generate optimizedor thematic calling lists where targets 103 to be called are allassociated with a particular theme or purpose or project. Predeterminedquery filters or report definitions can be created in the automatedcalling system 100, or provided in any of the embodiments involving aseparate CRM system, wherein the query filters use the metadata valuesto generate optimized calling lists for different purposes. For example,predetermined calling list generation filters may be provided toefficiently support having an automated calling session that isdedicated to a theme, such as “Business Development Calls to New Leads”,“Follow Up Conversations for Sales Campaign”, “Urgent Conversations”,“High Priority Follow-Up Calls”, “End of Month Contract Closing Calls”,and so on. As the metadata is updated after each conversation, thesepredetermined query filters and reports have the effect of moving anyindividual target or prospect 103 automatically between different listsas conversations occur or other information becomes available thatresults in the metadata being changed outside of the automated callingprocess itself.

A closed loop calling process in accordance with the present inventionhandles the problem of avoiding inappropriate collisions amongunscheduled automated conversations, unscheduled manually dialed orinbound call conversations, and scheduled conversations. For example, atarget 103 that has a “wait until” date that is after the date on whichthe calling list is being generated will be filtered out from anycalling list that might otherwise include the associated target 103, andas a result, one avoids prematurely or inappropriately having anunscheduled conversation with a target 103 with whom one has scheduled ameeting, or promised to talk with someone else, or promised to take somespecific action, before the next conversation with that target 103.

In an embodiment involving a separate CRM system, the automated callingsystem 100 may include a programmable CRM integration system thatqueries the separate CRM system to assemble and upload calling listscontaining an appropriate combination of new leads, urgent activities,current activities, high priority activities and past-due activities. Inaddition, the programmable CRM integration system updates potentialmultiple records in the CRM system after each conversation with a target103 in order to implement part of the functionality of the closed loopcalling process described herein. A closed loop calling system inaccordance with the present invention allows the user 101, or anadministrator of the automated calling system 100, to define queryfilters or pre-defined CRM reports to be used to select the contactinformation for appropriate contacts for calling sessions. The user 101can choose one or more of these predetermined filters or reports for agiven session, and the programmable CRM integration system automaticallyinvokes the predetermined query or report on the CRM system to load theresulting contact information into a calling list in the automatedcalling system 100.

The user 101 optionally modifies the calling list through a userinterface that allows specific contacts, or all contacts that match acriterion such as “company”, to be eliminated from the calling list. Theuser 101 can also designate one or more targets 103 on the calling listas “high priority”, directing the automated calling system 100 to moreintensively attempt to contact those targets 103 during the callingsession.

After each conversation with a target 103, the user 101 uses the callingsystem user interface to record the disposition of the call, usingpre-defined, optionally customized disposition field values, along withthe follow-up date, “next steps” notes, and any other information thatmight be optionally required by the CRM system. The automated callingsystem 100 invokes the programmable CRM integration system with acommand to update the CRM system with this information. The programmableCRM integration system has a programmable capability that, for each typeof CRM system for each business using the automated calling system 100,allows an integration administrator to designate a sequence of actionsto be taken in the CRM system. This sequence of actions is different foreach type of CRM system, such as Salesforce.com or Microsoft Dynamics.It can also be different depending on the call disposition selected bythe user 101, and may also vary depending on values of records withinthe CRM system, and on how the CRM system has been configured and isbeing used. The actions may consist of updating some records, such assetting the status on a target record to “Had Conversation”, optionallyin combination with creating additional records, such as a task recordindicating when the next attempt can be made to have a follow-upconversation with the target 103.

Additionally, each automated calling session produces information aboutcalls that were attempted but not successfully connected. At the end ofthe session, or optionally after each attempt, or at some other time,the automated calling system 100 can invoke the programmable CRMintegration system with a command to update the CRM system based on thecall attempt records. The programmable CRM integration system can thenuse the call disposition information to automatically inactivate Lead orContact records with known bad information, or can correct such recordswith information discovered during the calling session.

The programmable CRM integration system can produce a record of itsinputs and the commands or other actions it invoked on the CRM system inorder to support identification of possibly incomplete transactionswhere one or more, but possibly not all, of the defined set of stepswere taken, perhaps because the CRM system became unavailable orinaccessible during the update, or because an update step failed andreturned with an error, or never completed.

One advantage of the present invention is that monothematic callinglists may be created by combining query filters using the metadatadescribed herein, in combination with additional query filters on otherfields in the database 111 or the CRM system. Such monothematic callinglists may also be referred to as optimized calling lists. Examples ofother theme fields in the database 111 or CRM system that may be usedinclude the business purpose fulfilled by the contact for the user andtarget, the user's time zone in conjunction with the time scheduled forthe calling session, the geographical location of the target inconjunction with the geographical location of the user 101, etc. Forexample, a user 101, who is traveling in San Francisco and has sparetime to make calls, may ask the automated calling system 100 to call allof the user's “priority” targets 103 who are geographically locatedwithin fifteen miles of the user's current geographical location.

Turning to FIG. 3, a flow chart for a closed loop calling process inaccordance with the present invention is shown. One embodiment of stepsassociated with a method of executing a calling session is shown. Instep 301, a calling list is created for use in a calling session. Asdescribed above, queries may be run on information contained in thedatabase 111, or on a contact management system (“CMS”) or a taskmanagement system (“TMS”) to create an optimized calling list. A CMS anda TMS are both components that are included in a conventional CRMsystem.

Once the calling list is created, the calling list is loaded into theautomated calling system 100 in step 302, and a calling session isstarted, in this example, for a single user 101 a. While this particularcalling list may be in use for only this particular user 101 a, thecommunication link establishment and management system 100 has thecapability of running a plurality of callings sessions simultaneouslyfor multiple users 101 a, 101 b, 101 c, 101 d, etc., each of whom has aunique calling list that is being executed for each respective callingsession. Therefore, a plurality of agents 102 a, 102 b, 102 c, 102 d,102 e are available to assist in any of the simultaneously runningcalling sessions as needed.

In step 303, when the communication link establishment and managementsystem 100 establishes a connection with a target 103 a, the associateduser 101 a (whose calling list included target 103 a) is connected tothe target 103 a and has a conversation with the target 103 a.

In a closed loop calling process according to the present invention,events that occur during a conversation with a target 103, or as aresult of a conversation with a target 103, may be processedautomatically by the communication link establishment and managementsystem 100 and associated information may be stored in the database 111.In step 304, if the target 103 a referred the user 101 a to a newcontact or target 103 b, the illustrated method proceeds to step 305.The process of handling a new contact or target 103 b referred by thecurrent target 103 a is executed in step 305, which is furtherillustrated in more detail in FIG. 4. In step 306, if the target 103 aagrees to meet with the user 101 a or someone else in the user's company(e.g., user 101 b) or someone associated with the user 101 a, theprocess of scheduling a meeting with the target 103 a is executed instep 307, which is further illustrated in more detail in FIG. 5. In step308, if one outcome of the conversation included setting up a follow upconversation with the target 103 a, the process of setting up a followup conversation with the target 103 a is executed in step 309, which isfurther illustrated in more detail in FIG. 6.

At the completion of a conversation, in step 310 the metadata for“attention class” is set to none, and the status of the target 103 a ischanged to someone that user 101 a has talked to. Thus, the informationassociated with this target 103 a stored in the database 111 will beupdated to reflect the updated metadata for this target 103 a, changingthe “attention class” and/or the “status” metadata stored for target 103a to a changed state. As a result of the changed state of the metadata,subsequently generated calling lists for user 101 a will not incorrectlyinclude target 103 a with lists of targets who have not yet been talkedto. Alternatively, as explained herein, updated metadata may betransferred to a third-party CRM system, third-party contact managementsystem, or task management system.

After the conversation with the first target 103 a is completed, in step311, the system 100 checks the calling list to determine if the list hasbeen completed. If additional targets 103 b, 103 c, 103 d, etc., are onthe calling list, and any time constraints placed upon the callingsession have not expired, the communication link establishment andmanagement system 100 will loop back from step 311 to step 303 andproceed with the process of establishing a communication connectionbetween the user 101 a and a second target 103 b in step 303.

During a calling session, while the system 100 is performing the method300 and looping through steps 303 to 311, the communication linkestablishment and management system 100 stores information associatedwith each call disposition. When the calling list has been completed,method 300 proceeds from step 311 to step 312, and informationassociated with each call disposition may be stored in the database 111,or can be transferred to a third-party CRM system, to a third-partycontact management system, and/or to a third-party task managementsystem, as shown in step 312. In the illustrated example, theinformation associated with call dispositions dealt with in step 312involves information associated with failed attempts to contact a target103. The process of applying failed contact attempts to the database111, or alternatively to a third-party CRM system, to a third-partycontact management system, and/or to a third-party task managementsystem, is shown in more detail in FIG. 7. After the process describedin step 312 is performed, the method 300 depicted in FIG. 3 ends at step313.

Turning to FIG. 4, a method 305 is illustrated in more detail forhandling a second target 103 f referred by a first target 103 a. Themethod 305 begins with step 316, in which the information associatedwith the second target 103 f is added to the database 111.Alternatively, the information associated with the second target 103 fis added to a third-party CRM system, to a third-party contactmanagement system, and/or to a third-party task management system. Thecommunication link establishment and management system 100 automaticallysets certain metadata fields when step 316 is performed. The system 100sets the metadata “status” field for new target 103 f to “notcontacted.” If the second target 103 f that was referred by the firsttarget 103 a is employed by the same company, which in many applicationswill be true in most instances, the company information associated withthe first target 103 a will be cloned, or copied into the new record forthe second target 103 f. In the case in which the system 100 isoperating in conjunction with a third-party CRM system, a third-partycontact management system, and/or a third-party task management system,the company information that is cloned for the second target 103 f willbe the company information stored in such third-party systems that isassociated with the first target 103 a.

As shown in FIG. 4, in step 317, the metadata for the “attention class”field for the second target 103 f will be selectively set by the system100 based upon input from the user 101 a. The communication linkestablishment and management system 100 will set the metadata “attentionclass” field to “urgent,” “priority,” or “normal” as appropriatedepending on the user 101 a's interpretation of the situation based uponthe context of the conversation with the first target 103 a.

In step 318, the metadata for the “next steps” field associated with thesecond target 103 f will be selectively set by the system 100 based uponinput from the user 101 a. The communication link establishment andmanagement system 100 will set the metadata “next steps” field asappropriate depending on the conversation between the user 101 a and thefirst target 103 a. The metadata will be stored in the database 111.Alternatively, the corresponding information stored in a third-party CRMsystem, a third-party contact management system, and/or a third-partytask management system, will be updated.

In step 319, the communication link establishment and management system100 will automatically set the metadata “status” field for the firsttarget 103 a to “contacted,” and the corresponding metadata stored inthe database 111 will be updated. Alternatively, the correspondingmetadata stored in a third-party CRM system, a third-party contactmanagement system, and/or a third-party task management system will beupdated. In addition, in step 320, the communication link establishmentand management system 100 will automatically set the metadata “attentionclass” field for the first target 103 a to “none,” and the correspondingmetadata stored in the database 111 will be updated. Alternatively, thecorresponding metadata stored in a third-party CRM system, a third-partycontact management system, and/or a third-party task management systemwill be updated. The method 305 is completed in step 315, and proceedsvia 315 shown in FIG. 3 to step 310, as previously described.

FIG. 5 shows a method 307 for scheduling a meeting in more detail. Instep 321, the communication link establishment and management system 100will automatically set the metadata “status” field for the first target103 a to “contacted,” and the corresponding metadata stored in thedatabase 111 will be updated. Alternatively, the corresponding metadatastored in a third-party CRM system and/or a third-party contactmanagement system (“CMS”) will be updated.

Referring to FIG. 5, in step 322, the communication link establishmentand management system 100 will automatically set the metadata “holdflag” to “true,” and record the new setting for the “hold flag” in thedatabase 111. Alternatively, the corresponding metadata stored in athird-party CRM system and/or a third-party contact management system(“CMS”) will be updated.

In step 323, a meeting record will automatically be created in thedatabase 111, or alternatively a meeting record will be created in athird-party CRM system and/or in a third-party task management system(“TMS”). The illustrated method 307 ends at step 315, and proceeds via315 shown in FIG. 3 to step 310, as previously described.

Referring to FIG. 6, a method 309 for setting up the follow up on aconversation with a target 103 is illustrated. In the illustratedexample, in step 324, the communication link establishment andmanagement system 100 will automatically update the metadata “status”field for the first target 103 a to “contacted,” and the correspondingmetadata stored in the database 111 will be updated. Alternatively, thecorresponding metadata stored in a third-party CRM system and/or athird-party contact management system (“CMS”) will be updated.

In step 325 shown in FIG. 6, the communication link establishment andmanagement system 100 will selectively update the metadata “attentionclass” field for the first target 103 a to “urgent,” “priority,” or“normal,” as appropriate depending on the user 101 a's interpretation ofthe situation based upon the context of the conversation with the firsttarget 103 a, and the corresponding metadata stored in the database 111will be updated. Alternatively, the corresponding metadata stored in athird-party CRM system, a third-party contact management system, and/ora third-party task management system will be updated.

In step 326, the metadata for the “next steps” field associated with thetarget 103 a will be selectively set by the communication linkestablishment and management system 100 as appropriate depending on theconversation between the user 101 a and the target 103 a, and themetadata will be stored in the database 111. Alternatively, thecorresponding information will be stored in a third-party CRM systemand/or a third-party contact management system (“CMS”).

In step 327, the communication link establishment and management system100 may automatically prepend conversation notes entered by the user 101a into a “notes” field in the database 111 for the target 103 a, oralternatively, in a “notes” field in a third-party CRM system and/or athird-party contact management system (“CMS”).

In step 328, the communication link establishment and management system100 will automatically set the metadata in the “wait until” date to anappropriate date after which a follow up call would be appropriate. Thecommunication link establishment and management system 100 willautomatically exclude the target 103 a from any calling lists generatedprior to the date set in the “wait until” field. Moreover, thecommunication link establishment and management system 100 willautomatically include the target 103 a in any calling lists that mightotherwise encompass target 103 a and which are generated after the dateset in the “wait until” field. Alternatively, the communication linkestablishment and management system 100 may automatically create a taskto be stored in a third-party CRM system and/or a third-party taskmanagement system (“TMS”) to resume attempting to call the target 103 aafter a set date. The illustrated method 309 ends at step 315, andproceeds via 315 shown in FIG. 3 to step 310, as previously described.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method 312 for applying failed call attempts tocontact records. When all targets 103 have been called, or a callingsession is otherwise terminated, the call disposition information forfailed calls may be used to automatically update the information storedin the database 111, or alternatively, may be used to update informationstored in a third-party CRM system, a third-party contact managementsystem (“CMS”), and/or a third-party task management system (“TMS”).

In step 330, the record for the next failed call attempt is retrievedfor processing. In step 331, if there are no more records for failedcalls, the process proceeds to step 313 and method 312 terminates. Ifthere are more records to process for failed calls, the method proceedsto step 332.

Referring to FIG. 7, in step 332, a determination is made concerning thereason for the failed call attempt. In the illustrated example, a set ofpredetermined values are provided as reasons for a failed call attempt,including “bad contact information,” “malformed number,” “target not atcompany,” “target is not in directory,” and “transferred to wrongnumber.” If the reason for failure is one of a predetermined set ofreasons, the communication link establishment and management system 100may automatically set the appropriate reason for failure record suchinformation in the database 111. Alternatively, similar information mayalso be stored in a third-party CRM system, a third-party contactmanagement system (“CMS”), and/or a third-party task management system(“TMS”).

In step 333, the “hold flag” associated with the target 103 a will beset to “true” so that the target 103 a is excluded from any callinglists that are generated until the reason for the failure is fixed.Otherwise, a target 103 a might repeatedly appear in calling lists, andthe system 100 might repeatedly make calling attempts that would failfor the same reason that the present call attempt failed. In step 333,the communication link establishment and management system 100effectively filters out bad data from a calling list which will improvethe efficiency of the operation of the system in the future byeliminating bad contacts from calling lists.

In step 334, the communication link establishment and management system100 may optionally research and fix contact records for associatedtargets 103 in the database 111, or in a third-party CRM system or athird-party contact management system (“CMS”). The system 100 may beprovided with an AI engine that attempts to access publicly availablerecords to obtain updated information for the target 103 a, or step 334may be performed manually. In step 335, if the associated record for thetarget 103 is fixed, then the method proceeds to step 336 and the “holdflag” is cleared and reset to “false” so that the associated target maybe included in a calling list. Thereafter, the method proceeds via 337back to step 330 to get the next failed call record. In step 332, if thereason for the call failure is a reason other than one of the set ofpredetermined reasons, then the illustrated method proceeds via 337 backto step 330 to get the next failed call record, and the “hold flag” isnot set.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart for a method for managing a meeting or manualcall. A meeting with a target 103, or a manual phone call or othercommunication with a target 103, may impact whether that target 103should be included in a calling list. In accordance with the presentinvention, a method is provided for updating the information in thedatabase 111 to achieve desired modifications in the operation of thecommunication link establishment and management system 100 by takinginto account the effect of such an event upon the generation of callinglists for the system 100.

Referring to FIG. 8, step 338 represents the meeting or conversationthat has taken place with a target 103 outside the operation of anautomated calling system 100. In addition to a meeting or manuallydialed telephone conversation, step 338 may also represent a telephonecall received by the user 101 from the target 103, or may represent anemail communication or other correspondence, or may represent one ormore text messages. In any event, in step 339, a determination is madewhether the target 103 should be called later. If the answer is yes,then a follow up conversation is set up in step 309 shown in FIG. 8.Step 309 is described in more detail in connection with FIG. 6, and willnot be further described here. After the completion of step 309 in FIG.8, the “hold flag” associated with the target 103 will be set to “false”or “none” in step 340. The method illustrated in FIG. 8 ends at step341.

Referring to FIG. 8, if a determination is made in step 339 that thetarget should not be called later, then the method proceeds directlyfrom step 339 to step 341 as shown.

FIG. 12 depicts a programmable CRM integration system 500 forautomatically synchronizing the database 111 in the communication linkestablishment and management system 100 with a third-party CRM system501, a third-party contact management system (“CMS”) 502, and/or athird-party task management system (“TMS”) 503. Data fields in thedatabase 111 may be mapped to corresponding data fields in thethird-party CRM system 501, the third-party contact management system(“CMS”) 502, and/or the third-party task management system (“TMS”) 503.As events take place in connection with the execution of callingsessions by the communication link establishment and management system100, the programmable CRM integration system 500 is operative toautomatically update information in the third-party CRM system 501, thethird-party contact management system (“CMS”) 502, and/or thethird-party task management system (“TMS”) 503 so that current andup-to-date information will automatically be propagated to and containedin the third-party CRM system 501, the third-party contact managementsystem (“CMS”) 502, and/or the third-party task management system(“TMS”) 503 at all times.

In one embodiment, the CRM integration system 500 has a programmablecapability that allows a sequence of steps to be defined that will beexecuted by the integration system. For example, when the CRMintegration system 500 is used for automatically synchronizing thedatabase 111 with the third party management system, the automatedcalling system 100 invokes the integration system 500 with a command toupdate the third party management system. This could take place aftereach conversation with a prospect, after the user is finished with theentire calling session, or at any point in between. An integrationadministrator can use the programmable capability of the integrationsystem 500 to designate a sequence of actions to be taken in thethird-party CRM system 501, the third-party contact management system(“CMS”) 502, and/or the third-party task management system (“TMS”) 503.This sequence of actions is different for each type of third partymanagement system, such as Salesforce.com or Microsoft Dynamics.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flow chart of one method of dynamically allocatingagents according to one embodiment described herein. The methoddescribed in FIG. 9, indicated generally with reference numeral 200,illustrates how the various components of the system 100 work togetherin one embodiment to selectively dial telephone numbers from a list oftargets or contacts 103 with whom communication is desired.

The communication link establishment and management system 100 operatesin a continuous loop as shown in FIG. 9. As shown, at step 201, thecurrent set of calling users 101, or pitchers 101, is scanned to findthe most appropriate pitcher 101 to make the next call attempt on behalfof his or her company (in this example, the company has products orservices to sell). This user or pitcher 101 can be selected according tovarious configurable rules or user selection criteria, which may bemodified while the system 100 is operating, such as: length of timesince this user 101 last had a call attempt; number of successfulconnections per unit time in the session so far; anticipated difficultyin achieving the guarantee of a predetermined target number ofconversational connections for this user 101 based on the ratio ofsuccessful connections to failed connections, and optional factorsincluding the mean and median times to complete call attempts during thesession so far; as well as optional factors such as the businesspriority of the session to achieve goals such as enhanced customersatisfaction for specific customers 103, or effectiveness of systemdemonstrations.

In the illustrated embodiment, at step 202, when a pitcher 101 isidentified, the system 100 scans the pitcher's calling list for the nextphone number to attempt to call. This number can be selected based onconfigurable rules that can include: choosing the next number inrandomly assigned order that satisfies call pacing constraintsoptionally including a minimum duration between attempts to call thesame number and a maximum number of calls to any one number during asession or other predetermined period of time; a next number in order ofdefined priority, or within a set of numbers sharing the same priority,that satisfy call pacing constraints; or a number selected by the user101 during the session and marked as highest priority to be attemptednext.

In one embodiment, an optional step 203 may be performed which dials thefirst telephone number for the selected target at this stage of theprocess.

When a next number to attempt is selected, at step 204, the list ofagents 102 is scanned to identify at least one agent 102 to whom theattempt can be assigned. This agent 102 can be optionally locked to theattempt at this point, or can be left unlocked until one of aconfigurable set of conditions occurs, such as the telephone systemdetects that the call was answered. The agent 102 may therefore beoptionally locked onto the attempt at various points in the process,depending on the rules configuration. These can include: when dialingbegins; when dialing is completed; when the call is answered by a humanbeing or voice mail greeting rather than an IVR system; and when thecall is answered by an IVR system. An agent 102 is not assigned to thecall attempt if it is for an invalid number, there is no answer, a busysignal is detected, or the call is answered by a fax machine.

In step 205, a determination is made concerning whether sufficientagents 102 are currently available. If there are no agents 102 thatmatch the criteria required for the next attempt for a given, or thereare an insufficient number of agents 102 available for the currentnumber of simultaneous calls in progress, in step 205 the methodbranches via 211 to step 206, where the previously telephone number isabandoned, and then the method proceeds back to step 201, and a nextpitcher 101 is identified according to the prioritization rulesdescribed above. For example, if the next pitcher 101 according to theprioritization rules requires a German speaking agent 102, and allGerman speaking agents 102 in the overall agent pool are currentlylocked on to call attempts, the list of pitchers 101 is re-scanned and apitcher 101 with the second highest score according to theprioritization rules is selected for the next call attempt in step 201.

Because the best agent 102 preferably is not locked on to the attemptuntil one of the configurable set of positive call outcomes happens, itis possible that a tentatively selected first agent 102 a becomesunavailable by being assigned to another call attempt that was happeningin parallel. In this case, the list of agents 102 is scanned again tofind a second agent 102 b with the next best score according topredetermined agent assignment rules. Among the agents 102 that matchthe criteria for the next call attempt for the selected session,additional selection criteria may be applied to select the best agent102 available. These criteria may include such factors as the labor costof the agent 102, the agent's historical efficiency at generatingconnections, and meeting requirements to fairly distribute calls toagents 102 or meet obligations for minimum use of agents 102 provided bydifferent vendors. In step 205, if no suitable agent 102 is available,the call attempt is disconnected and abandoned in step 206, and thesystem 100 returns to the outer loop at step 201 to select the bestpitcher 101 for the next call attempt.

Once a first agent 102 a is successfully associated with a first callattempt at step 207, the communication link establishment and managementsystem 100 operates in parallel fashion, and the system 100 immediatelyproceeds back via 210 to begin a second call attempt at step 201 thatmay potentially involve the association of a second agent 102 b.Simultaneously, the first agent 102 a who was successfully associatedwith the first call attempt proceeds to take actions to process thefirst call attempt. This parallel functionality of the communicationlink establishment and management system 100 is a critical feature ofthe present invention, and this parallel functionality provides manysignificant advantages over prior systems that did not include suchcapability.

When a call attempt is assigned to an agent 102 in step 207, the agent102 performs actions depending on the conditions associated with thatparticular call attempt in order to establish a communication link withthe desired target person 103. This is illustrated in FIG. 9 by step208, in which the calling plan for the associated target 103 isexecuted. In the illustrated example, the agent 102 is connected to thetelephone call, and simultaneously presented with a screen display ofinformation associated with the target 103, such as the target person'sname, job title, company name, as well as other identifying information.As an example of the actions performed by the agent 102, if the call isanswered by a gatekeeper, such as a secretary or administrativeassistant, the agent 102 would ask to speak to the target person 103. Ifthe call is answered by an IVR system, the agent 102 could respond tothe IVR system in an appropriate fashion to obtain a connection to thedesired target person 103. However, it should be appreciated that thesystem 100 performs certain functions during the execution of thecalling plan step 208 shown in FIG. 9.

In one embodiment, each agent 102 that is defined in the system may bedescribed in a stored profile that includes a list of skills, such aslanguages spoken and understood, experience level, skills and training,certifications, along with optional proficiency scores for each skilland a score representing the agent's quality rating, based upon his orher historical success rate in achieving correct connections, normalizedfor the overall quality of calling lists for those past sessions. Whenan agent 102 logs into the communication link establishment andmanagement system 100, the agent's identifier, session identifier,skills profile and quality score are recorded in a data structure thatincludes all currently available agents 102.

Target characteristic information associated with each target 103 may bestored in a database 111. During a calling session, this targetcharacteristic information may be used in determining the best agent 102to handle a calling attempt directed to that target 103. When theassistance of an agent 102 is needed to further process an attemptedcall to a particular target 103, the agent characteristic informationmay be compared with the target characteristic information, and adetermination can be made to select the best available agent 102 basedupon the results of such a comparison. For example, if the target 103 isa high priority high-level executive, an agent 102 may be selected whohas the best performance rating of all available agents, or who has thegreatest experience. If the target 103 speaks Japanese, for example,then the agent characteristic information may be used to select an agent102 who speaks Japanese.

FIG. 10 is a state table that illustrates in more detail thefunctionality and steps involved in the execution of a calling plan 208.The functionality involved in the execution of a calling plan mayinvolve a number of different states and multiple possible sequences ofstates, and is best explained with a state table rather than a flowchart. FIG. 10 contains a left column 215 setting forth possible callstates, and the middle column 216 sets forth the next step thatpotentially follows the associated call state. The right column 217indicates whether the associated step is done by the agent 102, orautomatically by the system 100, and in some instances, the associatedstep may be performed by either or both.

Referring to FIG. 10, in the first row 218, if the call is answered by avoice, an agent 102 is dynamically selected and assigned to this callattempt, and the agent 102 or the system 100 may categorize the callattempt as reaching a live person, an automated attendant or companydirectory, or a voice message greeting. The ability of a human agent 102to make such a determination is apparent.

However, in an alternative embodiment, instead of a human agent 102making the determination indicated in the first row 218 of the table,the communication link establishment and management system 100 mayinclude a voice recognition software module, and an artificialintelligence or AI module, that are operative to decode the speech andascertain what words were spoken by a live person, or an automatedattendant, or a voicemail greeting, and automatically determine thecorrect state in the middle column 216 of the first row 218 that appliesto this call attempt. The AI module may detect the language spoken bythe voice answering the telephone, whether it is a live person, anautomated attendant, or a voicemail greeting, and record the detectedlanguage in a record associated with the target 103 in the database 111.When the best agent 102 is selected in step 207 shown in FIG. 9, thelanguage skills of the available agents may be compared with thelanguage detected by the AI, or compared with stored information in thedatabase 111 concerning the languages spoken by the target 103, and anagent 102 may be selected in step 207 that speaks the same language thatis spoken by the target 103.

The AI module may include a database containing hash values for decodedvoice recordings, and may include the functionality of recognizing whenthe same recording answers a telephone. The database may storeinformation associated with a telephone answered by a particular voicerecording, such as a record of the correct signals to transmit to anassociated IVR system in order to navigate the IVR system or the correctsignals to navigate a company directory associated with that recording.A sophisticated voice recognition AI module and database may be includedto recognize the voice of the target person 103 in the event that thetarget person 103 answers the phone, and in some such instances, maycomplete the call between a user 101 and such target person 103 withoutany need for an agent 102.

Referring to FIG. 10, instances where a call is connected to the targetperson 103, the call state is depicted in the fourth row 221 of the leftcolumn 215. When that state is reached, the agent 102 (or the system 100if automatic operation capability is provided) immediately transfers thecall to an appropriate user 101, and the disposition of the call isrecorded in an associated database as a successful communication link.In the event of a successful call disposition, the call state changes tothe state indicated in the seventeenth row 234 of FIG. 10.

The second row 219 in FIG. 10 illustrates the state of a call that isanswered by a live person, rather than a recording. It will beappreciated that the second row 219 is one state that is a possibleoutcome from the state explained above with respect to the first row 218in FIG. 10. In this case 219, the agent 102 would typically determinewhether the live person is a gatekeeper, is the target 103, or is someother person. However, as described above, a voice recognition AI moduleand database may be provided with the capability of recognizing thevoice of the target person 103, or the voice of the target's regulargatekeeper, (such as the target's normal administrative assistant), andthe determination described in the middle column 216 of the second row219 may be determined automatically by the system 100.

An agent 102 may be provided with a script to use when a call attempt isanswered by a gatekeeper. In addition, the agent 102 may be able toanswer questions and to provide the gatekeeper with additionalinformation concerning the purpose of the call. If the call attempt isanswered by a gatekeeper, the call state is depicted in the left column215 of the third row 220 shown in FIG. 10. In the illustrated example220, the agent 102 would read or recite a predetermined greeting orscript to the gatekeeper.

Referring to FIG. 10, if the call state is a connection to someone else,as depicted in row five 222 of the left column 215, (for example, thetelephone number provided in the calling list may be a wrong number orthe target person may not work there any longer), the agent 102 recordsin an associated database 111 that the call attempt failed, and may saveadditional details relating to the call disposition.

If the call state is that the call is connected to a company directory,as indicated in the sixth row 223 of the left column 215 in FIG. 10, thenext step in the method according to one embodiment is to determinewhether the target 103 is in the company directory. This may be done bythe agent 102. In addition, an AI module with voice recognitionfunctionality may perform the same step automatically, with the system100 making that determination.

If the target is determined to be in the company directory, then thecall state goes to the state indicated in the seventh row 224 of theleft column 215 of FIG. 10. The appropriate signals are transmitted tothe company telephone system, typically in the form of touch tones sentto a PBX, to cause the company PBX to connect the call to the extensioncorresponding to the target 103. This step may be performed by the agent102, or may be performed automatically by the system 100 in anembodiment having an AI module and a voice recognition module.Alternatively, previous calling experience with a particular telephonenumber may be saved in the database 111, and in the case of a mainnumber to a business having a known automated attendant system whosecommands are saved in the database, the system 100 may recognize when atelephone number is being called that it is a known automated attendantsystem. If the command structure for a known automated attendant systemis saved in the database 111, the system 100 may proceed toautomatically issue commands to the company's automated attendant systemto cause the company PBX to transfer the call to the extensionassociated with the target 103 without connecting to an agent 102. Suchfunctionality may be accomplished without an advanced AI module or voicerecognition module.

Another outcome from the state indicated in row 223 is that the targetis not contained in the company directory. In that event, the call statechanges to the eighth row 225 of the left column 215 depicted in FIG.10. The next step of the method according to one embodiment would be torecord in the database 111 the call disposition as failed, and furtherrecord in the database additional information associated with the failedcall attempt, such as the characteristic that the target 103 was not inthe company directory.

One outcome of the call state in the first row 218 of FIG. 10 is thatthe voice turns out to be a voicemail greeting. In that event, the callstate changes to the state indicated in the ninth row 226 of the leftcolumn 215 of FIG. 10. The agent 102, or in the case of an embodimentfeaturing automated operation the system 100, may check to determinewhether there is a predetermined voicemail message recorded for thiscalling session and applicable to this target 103. If so, the system 100may automatically take over the process of leaving a voicemail messagefor the target 103, and after detecting a tone indicating the beginningof a recording session by the target's company voicemail system, thesystem 100 will play the predetermined voicemail message in order forthe message to be recorded by the company voicemail system. Uponcompletion of the voicemail message, the system 100 will terminate thecall, and the call state changes to the state indicated in theseventeenth row 234 of FIG. 10.

One possible call state is that a busy signal is detected, as indicatedin the tenth row 227 of FIG. 10. The next step will be performedautomatically by the system 100. The busy signal is automaticallydetected by the system 100 without any intervention by an agent 102, andthe system 100 automatically stores data relating to the calldisposition in the database 111. In this case, a record indicating thatthe call attempt failed is stored, and associated information is storedin the database 111 showing that the call failed because of a busysignal. The call state then changes to the state indicated in thefourteenth row 231 of FIG. 10. In addition, the system 100 may alsoprovide a means for adding the associated telephone number back in thelist of numbers to be called during the current session in an effort tore-dial the number and again attempt a call to that number.Alternatively, the call disposition information stored in the database111 may be queried at a later date to generate a calling list for asubsequent calling session that is intended to re-dial telephone numberswith certain associated call disposition characteristics, such as a listof call failures that were due to busy numbers on previous attempts.

Another possible call state is that the call attempt resulted in beingconnected to a facsimile machine, as indicated in the eleventh row 228of FIG. 10. The system 100 automatically detects the facsimile machine,and stores call disposition information in the database 111 that thecall failed due to the fact that the telephone number called was for afacsimile machine. The call state then changes to the state indicated inthe fourteenth row 231 of FIG. 10.

As indicated in the twelfth row 229 of FIG. 10, in the case of noanswer, the system 100 stores call disposition information in thedatabase 111 that the call failed due to the fact that the telephonenumber called was not answered. The call state then changes to the stateindicated in the fourteenth row 231 of FIG. 10.

If the call attempt resulted in a determination that the telephonenumber in the calling list was a malformed number, as indicated in thethirteenth row 230 of FIG. 10, the system automatically records in thedatabase 111 a call disposition indicating the there was a data errorassociated with the telephone number. The call state then changes to thestate indicated in the fourteenth row 231 of FIG. 10.

When the call state is a failed call attempt, as indicated in thefourteenth row 231 of FIG. 10, the system 100 automatically checks todetermine whether the database 111 or the calling list contains anyother numbers for the target 103. If an alternate number is found, thecall state changes to the state indicated in the fifteenth row 232 ofFIG. 10, and an alternate number is dialed. If an alternate number isnot found, the call state changes to the state indicated in thesixteenth row 233 of FIG. 10, and the disposition of the calling attemptwould be indicated as failed, and this information would be stored inthe database 111.

In the event of any successful call disposition, the call state changesto the state indicated in the seventeenth row 234 of FIG. 10. In thatevent, the system 100 releases any associated or selected agent 102 andterminates the calling plan with a success status stored in the databaseassociated with the target 103. The system 100 may then loop back tobegin another call attempt at step 201 in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 shows a screenshot of an example of a screen display 400presented to an agent 102 when the agent 102 is connected to a callattempt in progress. The display 400 illustrated in FIG. 11 provides theagent 102 with identifying data for the target 103, such as the target'sfirst name 401, last name 402, job title 403, and telephone number 404.(A fictitious telephone number is illustrated in FIG. 11.) The company405 associated with the target 103 is also preferably displayed to theagent 102.

The agent 102 is preferably also provided with information associatedwith the user or pitcher 101 tentatively selected for this call, if thecall attempt is successful. User associated information may be displayedin user display box 416. For example, if a call is answered by anoperator or gatekeeper, the agent 102 can ask if the target person 103is available to speak with the designated user 101, and the agent 102can identify the designated user 101 by name (and company ifapplicable). For example, the agent 102 would be able to ask if “Mr.Chris Smith is available to speak with Mr. Jim Jones,” assuming the user101 is Jim Jones and the user's name is displayed to the agent 102 inthe user display box 416.

If the agent 102 is successful at reaching the first target person 103a, the agent 102 clicks on the transfer button 406, and the call istransferred to an appropriate user 101. The transfer signal resultingfrom the agent 102 clicking on the transfer button 406 is handled by theconnection management module 113 shown in FIG. 2. The agent 102 is thenimmediately free to enter data concerning the call disposition and thenhandle another call attempt associated with a second target person 103b. This method results in optimum utilization of the agent 102, and theagent 102 is involved with a call attempt only during a limited timeperiod when the assistance and involvement of a human agent 102 isrequired. All other steps associated with a call attempt are performedautomatically by the system 100.

Referring to FIG. 11, if instead of reaching the target person 103, theagent 102 is referred to, or otherwise reaches a voicemail for thedesired target 103, the agent 102 may optionally click on the leavevoicemail message button 407. In a preferred embodiment, a prerecordedvoicemail message is automatically left by the system 100, and the agent102 is freed up immediately after clicking on the leave voicemailmessage button 407 to enter data concerning the call disposition andthen take another call attempt. When the agent 102 clicks on the leavevoicemail message button 407, the system 100 waits on the target'svoicemail system and spends the time necessary to automatically record apredetermined voicemail message without further human intervention orinvolvement.

There may be some instances when it is desirable for an agent 102 to becapable of hanging up on a call in progress, and in the illustratedembodiment, the agent 102 may do so by clicking on a hang up button 415.In some instances, for example when the agent 102 is speaking to someoneover a cellular phone and the target's cell phone drops the call, theagent 102 can hang up and redial the number by clicking on the redialbutton 414.

Before the agent 102 is available to be connected to another callattempt, the agent 102 preferably enters call disposition data that isstored in a database or data store. A drop down menu 408 may be providedfrom which the agent may select an appropriate call disposition instanceand record the data by clicking on an associated call disposition submitbutton 409. An agent 102 may also be provided with a popup window 410that provides a selection of possible characteristics for systemquality, lead quality, and call report, which may be recorded by theagent 102 and submitted by clicking on call data record button 411. Inthe illustrated example, available system quality characteristics thatmay be recorded include “no one there,” “dropped call,” “delayedtransfer,” “poor voice quality,” “voice late,” and “lead late.” Leadquality characteristics provided in this example include “bad number,”“inappropriate company,” “inappropriate title,” and “bad information.”In the illustrated example, call report data that may be recorded in adata store includes “person answered,” “IVR answered,” “fax answered,”“direct number,” and “IVR navigation success.” These examples areillustrative only, and a person skilled in the art will appreciate thatmany other outcomes and characteristics may be provided for the agent102 to optionally record.

An agent 102 may also type notes associated with a call attempt in atext box 412, and save the notes by clicking on notes save button 413.The notes typed by the agent 102 will be saved in a data store within adatabase so that the notes are associated with the target or customer103. Moreover, when a call in progress is referred to a second agent 102b, any previously typed notes saved by a first agent 102 a may bedisplayed to the second agent 102 b in the notes window 412.

The screen display 400 shown in FIG. 11 is illustrative only, andpersons skilled in the art will appreciate that different configurationsand arrangements may be provided for an agent display screen inaccordance with the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The example shown in FIG. 1 is illustrative of one embodiment. Thepublic switched telephone network 104 may be replaced, in whole or inpart, with a network 104, such as the Internet 104. The system 100 mayinclude a user device operated by the user 101, such as a clientcomputer connected to a network employing client-server architecture.The system 100 preferably includes a server and a database store 111.The server and the database 111 are preferably integrated into onephysical device, but other arrangements are possible. Alternatively, theserver and the database 111 may be integrated, while the user device isremote, for example, a client computer or tablet device running abrowser that communicates with the system 100 over a network usingTCP/IP protocol. Alternatively, the server running the system 100 and aseparate server containing the database 111, may communicate with eachother via a local area network or a wide area network, including theInternet. An ordinary artisan will understand that that the system 100illustrated in FIG. 1 is only one example, that many otherconfigurations are possible and further, duplicative components may beeliminated where possible.

A server suitable for implementing the system 100 may comprise acomputing device, and may include a processor, a memory, a networkinterface, and appropriate software. The database 111 may be stored on aserver comprising a computing device, and may include a processor, amemory, a network interface, a database module, and a data storagedevice such as a hard drive.

The system 100 may enforce call processing and connection rules and maybe tasked with controlling a second separate third-party databasecontaining contact associated information, and may be provided with thenecessary privileges and authorization to make changes to thethird-party database associated with thereof. The communication linkestablishment and management system 100 may interface with conventionalcustomer relationship management programs and databases, such assalesforce.com and the like, in order to provide the functionality andadvantages of the present invention without requiring a business todiscard its existing tools and software, and without requiring expensiveand disruptive software replacements and upgrades. For example, thesystem may include a server operative to create database records in adatabase 111 associating results of connected calls, unsuccessful callattempts, bad telephone numbers, and information obtained fromcommunications with person(s) contacted.

More particularly, in response to receiving information during and as aresult of a connection or unsuccessful attempt at a connection, closedloop calling process functionality may be employed. The system 100 mayuse the information in the database 111 to create additional lists andnew groups of telephone numbers for other purposes, such as follow upcalls or re-attempts, and/or make changes and updates to the currentcustomer relationship information in conventional customer relationshipmanagement programs and databases, such as salesforce.com and the like.Further, the system 100 may use call disposition data to improve thequality of calling lists, for example, by deleting bad telephonenumbers, by changing the telephone numbers for a target person 103 whenthe target 103 changes jobs or moves to a different location, by storingthe necessary sequence of touch tones that must be generated in order tonavigate an automated attendant at a particular target's telephonenumber in order to reach the desired target 103, etc. In practice, thequality of information in any set of contacts or calling list degradesover time, because people change jobs, their business moves to a newlocation, they are promoted to a new position or change jobresponsibilities with the same company, they retire, they change theirname (for example, as a result of a marriage or a divorce), or a personmay be deceased. One by-product of the operation of the system 100 is toimprove the quality of the information in a set of contacts or callinglist by eliminating or updating incorrect information.

The database 111 preferably stores information associated withindividual targets 103 that may be discovered during calling sessions.For example, the telephone number that a target 103 is most likely toanswer may be stored. The language(s) spoken by the target 103 may bestored in the database 111.

The actual time zone where the target 103 is located is also stored.Prior to the widespread use of mobile phones, telephone numbers wereassociated with physical locations, and the area code associated withthe telephone number would uniquely identify the time zone where thetelephone was located. A new paradigm has emerged with the widespreaduse of cellular telephones, and now a telephone number is associatedwith a person instead of a physical location. Because people are mobile,the area code of a cellular telephone number is not a reliableindication of the time zone where the person associated with thecellular telephone number is located. In addition, a cellular telephonesubscriber may not want to change telephone numbers when the subscribermoves to a different area code, and there is no requirement that asubscriber must do so. Therefore, because contact information associatedwith a target 103 frequently includes mobile telephone numbers, the areacode of a telephone number associated with a target 103 does not alwaysmatch the time zone where the target 103 may be located when anattempted call is made to the target 103.

The database 111 may store customer relationship and contactinformation, index information for the customer contacts andrelationships, contact database element relationships and contactrelationship element component related information. In addition, thedatabase 111 may store authentication, template definitions, and/orbusiness rules. Given that the database 111 stores useful and valuableinformation as a by-product of the operation of the system 100, theinformation that is collected, verified, and updated in the database 111can be used by a second business having a calling list that overlapswith a previous calling list from a first business, and at least some ofthe targets 103 or telephone numbers are the same. For example, thefirst business might conduct a calling session using a calling list thatincluded a number of targets 103 for which the only telephone numberavailable was the main telephone number for a large corporation, andeach such target 103 required navigation of the company directory orother efforts were required to obtain a direct dial number for thetargets 103. Thereafter, a second business might conduct a callingsession that includes targets 103 with the same large corporation, andwhich only have the main telephone number provided. The system 100 mayconduct the calling session for the second business more efficiently bytaking advantage of any direct dial numbers obtained for common targets103 who were on the calling list for the first business, and byrecording information concerning the navigation of the company directoryto more quickly locate the targets 103 at that telephone number for whomno direct dial number is available. If the system 100 is used by anumber of businesses in an industry, the system 100 may, as a by-productof the upgrading and updating of contact information that occurs duringoperation of the system 100, effectively produce a database 111 ofcontact information that is more current and of a higher quality thanany conventional telephone book or published directory.

The illustrated example described herein may be employed in oneembodiment. However, one skilled in the art will understand that any ofa plurality of embodiments may be utilized to perform the methodsdescribed herein. For example, FIG. 1 shows six agents 102. However, itshould be understand that the number of agents 102 is arbitrary, and anynumber of agents 102 may be used in connection with the communicationlink establishment and management system 100. Similarly, the exampleshown in FIG. 1 has five users 101. However, it should be understoodthat the number of users 101 is arbitrary, and any number of users 101may be used in connection with the communication link establishment andmanagement system 100. Further, any number of targets 103 may besimultaneously contacted by the communication link establishment andmanagement system 100, and the invention is not limited to the number oftargets shown in the illustrated example of FIG. 1.

The term “communication link” as used herein may be defined broadly toinclude any channel of communication between two or more persons. In thecontext of this description, a “communication link”, in addition to theexamples cited herein, may be a wireless data connection, a radiotransmission, a satellite connection, a VoIP connection, a television orvideo connection, or any data path or communication channel that permitsa conversation to take place between a user and a target.

Those of ordinary skill will also understand that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the examples disclosed herein may be implemented aselectronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both.Furthermore, the present invention can also be embodied on amachine-readable medium causing a processor or computer to perform orexecute certain functions.

To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software,various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and stepshave been described above generally in terms of their functionality.Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or softwaredepends upon the particular application and design constraints imposedon the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the describedfunctionality in varying ways for each particular application, but suchimplementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the disclosed apparatus and methods.

The various illustrative logical blocks, units, modules, and circuitsdescribed in connection with the examples disclosed herein may beimplemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with theexamples disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two.The steps of the method or algorithm may also be performed in analternate order from those provided in the examples. A software modulemay reside in tangible, non-transitory memory such as RAM memory, flashmemory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known inthe art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor suchthat the processor can read information from, and write information to,the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may beintegral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium mayreside in an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). The ASICmay reside in a user device, a wireless device, or a smartphone. In thealternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discretecomponents in a user device, a wireless device, or a smartphone.

The previous description of the disclosed examples is provided to enableany person of ordinary skill in the art to make or use the disclosedmethods and apparatus. Various modifications to these examples will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the principles definedherein may be applied to other examples without departing from thespirit or scope of the disclosed method and apparatus. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive and the scope of the invention is, therefore,indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription. All changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for a closed loop process in connectionwith an automatic calling system, comprising: a communication linkestablishment and management system configured to selectively establisha communication channel between a user and a target, the communicationlink establishment and management system having a data store for storingcontextual lead information associated with targets, wherein thecontextual lead information includes an event that has occurred at thetarget; the communication link establishment and management system beingoperative to initiate a plurality of outbound calling attempts toestablish communication with a plurality of targets, and to storeinformation associated with each target; and the communication linkestablishment and management system being programmed to automaticallyinterface with a customer relationship management system to transfersaid information to the customer relationship management system toupdate a database associated with the customer relationship managementsystem.